COP27 summit agrees on landmark climate ‘loss and damage’ fund, but does little to encourage rapid cuts to fossil fuel use and warming
(Reuters) – The leaders of more than 100 countries agreed on Tuesday on a landmark climate “loss and damage” fund but did little to encourage quick action to cut fossil fuels and increase solar and wind power.
LONDON — The leaders of more than 100 countries agreed on Tuesday on a landmark climate “loss and damage” fund but did little to encourage quick action to cut fossil fuels and increase solar and wind power.
The Paris Agreement — a treaty by which the world pledged in the Paris climate conference to try to keep the global temperature to well below a rise of 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Celsius) above pre-industrial times, to avert the worst effects of global warming — will come into effect from November 15.
But the agreement does little to ensure that emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas blamed for global warming, will be reduced quickly enough to limit global emissions to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Celsius) by 2050.
“The Paris Agreement is a clear recognition of the climate threat posed by fossil fuels, but it is not sufficiently ambitious in its pledges of action to make all countries on track to meet the target,” said Mark Maslin, the chief executive of WWF International.
“The Paris Agreement relies on the U.S. and many other developed countries to act quickly, and this will not happen without support from China to make ambitious emissions policies and strong commitments to funding the fund,” he told a press conference in London.
China would be expected to provide the United States with $3 billion as part of the fund, with another $5 billion to be provided directly by U.S. states, the Financial Times reported.
Environmental activists had welcomed the Paris accord, but warned that the deal needed to be followed through with swift action to reduce emissions for the world to have a chance of avoiding catastrophic warming.
Last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) made clear that the world was going to need at least $100 billion next year to ramp up efforts and ensure an additional $3 billion in investment in climate action by nations outside wealthy nations, as well as an additional $30 billion over the next two years, to mitigate global warming by the end of the decade.
The deal
